Pop-up farmers market spotlights gardening

In a sure sign of summer, the first farmers market of the year is coming to the Mat-Su.

The Matanuska Community Farmers Market annual Spring Pop-Up is set for May 27. Two weeks before the official market opening on June 10, the MCFM will take its usual place in the parking lot of the United Protestant Church, 713 S. Denali St., in downtown Palmer.

Brandi Jo Nyberg, the organization’s executive director and market manager, said the MCFM is the result of collaboration between three like-minded farmers in Palmer who believed that residents should be able to have easy, direct-to-consumer access to the food that is grown and produced here in the Valley. She said this year’s pre-season pop-up market follows its successful launch last year. While a full array of the Mat-Su’s summer agricultural bounty is still weeks away, many local farmers have products to sell, including plant starts. “So many of our market shoppers are also gardeners themselves,” Nyberg said. “It's an opportunity for them to purchase plant starts from local farmers, ask questions about what they plan to grow, and the varieties that are offered. We like to think of it as both a garden plant-start sale and a farmers market.”

In addition to plant starts, there will be fresh flowers, eggs, locally roasted coffee, fermented foods, and sourdough products. Some fresh produce, like herbs, microgreens, and mushrooms, will be available alongside root cellar staples. For the remainder of this year’s markets, which run from 4 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday through Oct. 28, aficionados of local produce can expect more of the same great variety of naturally grown and produced goods from the usual assortment of local farms and vendors. Joining the regular mix this year is Living Flames, which debuted in a single appearance last year with its line of fermented foods, kombucha, honey, and some baked goods, too.

Delaney’s Sourdough is among the returning vendors. Delaney Rau is the creative force behind the business, which is one of several home microbakeries operating in the Mat-Su.

Rau’s sourdough products, including bread, English muffins, scones, and brown butter chocolate chip cookies, have won her a bit of a cult following since she launched her business in the fall of 2023. Despite having her baked goods in local retail outlets, and doing a brisk business to regular customers out of her home, she said there’s something special about the summer outdoor markets.

“I am so pumped for the market this year,” she said. “It's something I romanticize every winter, dreaming about seeing my customers face to face who have become like friends over the years.”

Rau said in addition to stocking up on locally grown and produced goods, the market offers people the opportunity to connect with, and support, their community.

“There is truly something so special about the Valley and how we show up for our local businesses,” she said. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

Nyberg also noted the economic value of the market. Despite its nonprofit status, the MCFM provides a boost to the local economy.

Dollars spent there each week have helped individual vendors and farms expand their own operations. That often means hiring extra help or keeping those dollars circulating in the local economy in other ways.

“To achieve abundance and a food-secure future in our state, it’s crucial to support our local food systems,” Nyberg said. “Buying from local farmers and food producers is an amazing way to support a resilient and robust local food system.”

This is the fourth year for the popular nonprofit market. Established in 2023 with the help of the Alaska Farmers Market Association and grant funding from the Mat-Su Health Foundation, MCFM emphasizes bringing fresh-food access to all, including underserved and low- and no-income individuals and families in the community to help them maintain adequate nutrition and health.

Nyberg said previous years’ markets have taught organizers to keep growing in ways that meet customer demand. The first two years, stocks were often sold out in the first two hours.

“Each year, we’ve added more produce and some of our farmers are growing more specifically for the market, so now there is produce available throughout the entire market, always,” she said. “We have also observed how people don’t just come to the market to shop, but they come to socialize and be in community, so adding picnic tables and having some food available to eat on-site helps nourish that aspect of the market.”

FIND OUT MORE

www.matanuskacommunityfarmersmarket.com

www.delaneyssourdough.com